Meals on a Budget: Bernaise Sauce

I first became hooked on the wonders of Bernaise sauce years ago when I was fortunate enough to eat at the Maisonette in Cincinnati. They made a version of Bernaise that I have never found any to compare too. After years of tweaking the recipe, I have come to my own version that I really like. For those of you who have never tried Bernaise, it is a great accompaniment to beef. Because of the egg yolks and butter it is very rich and creamy, the lemon juice and wine give it a tartness, and the onions and spices give it a hint of savoriness.

This is my recipe and I think it works pretty well. I have also added the recipe card at the end of the post.

You need to finely chop the onion so that it doesn’t overpower the sauce. You will also need to cook the chopped onion for 1 minute in the microwave to soften it.

Place the 5 egg yolks in a saucepan and add the lemon juice and stir until the mixture is blended.

Add the first stick of butter sliced into pats and cook over very low heat stirring constantly until melted in. Then add the next stick in the same fashion continuing to stir constantly. This process takes awhile because we want the egg butter mixture to cook together. If the heat is too high or you don’t stir enough, the eggs will begin to cook on their own and the sauce will “break”. You’ll know if/when this happens because you’ll see lumps or curdles forming in your sauce.

If all goes according to plan, your sauce will begin to thicken and reach the point where it begins to look like a thin pudding. You’ll see the line the spoon left after you drag it across the bottom.

At this point take the sauce off the heat, add the onions, tarragon and chervil. and mix well. Add the wine (if you don’t have wine, you can substitute 2 tsp lemon juice and 2 tbsp water). Blend well and serve. This makes quite a bit of Bernaise sauce (enough for 7), so feel free to cut the recipe in half. Unfortunately, Bernaise does not hold up well to refrigeration, so I am forced to make it from scratch whenever we are in the mood. It really is something you need to try at least once, so you can understand why us fanatics love the stuff.

Bernaise Sauce

Recipe Type: Entree

Cuisine: French

Author: Cincyshopper

Ingredients

1/2 Onion finely diced

5 egg yolks

2 tsp Lemon juice

2 sticks Butter

1 tsp Tarragon

1 tsp Chervil

3 tbsp White Wine

Instructions

You need to finely chop the onion so that it doesn’t overpower the sauce. You will also need to cook the chopped onion for 1 minute in the microwave to soften it.

Place the 5 egg yolks in a saucepan and add the lemon juice and stir until the mixture is blended.

Add the first stick of butter sliced into pats and cook over very low heat stirring constantly until melted in.

Then add the next stick in the same fashion continuing to stir constantly. This process takes awhile because we want the egg butter mixture to cook together. If the heat is too high or you don’t stir enough, the eggs will begin to cook on their own and the sauce will “break”. You’ll know if/when this happens because you’ll see lumps or curdles forming in your sauce.

If all goes according to plan, your sauce will begin to thicken and reach the point where it begins to look like a thin pudding. You’ll see the line the spoon left after you drag it across the bottom.

At this point take the sauce off the heat, add the onions, tarragon and chervil. and mix well.

Add the wine (if you don’t have wine, you can substitute 2 tsp lemon juice and 2 tbsp water). Blend well and serve.

This makes quite a bit of Bernaise sauce (enough for 7), so feel free to cut the recipe in half. Unfortunately, Bernaise does not hold up well to refrigeration, so I am forced to make it from scratch whenever we are in the mood. It really is something you need to try at least once, so you can understand why us fanatics love the stuff.